


The Sparrow's Calling

by seijoh_soul



Series: Udai Suzume is a BAMF [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Siblings, Canon Compliant, Character Insert, Fem!OC in Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club, Original Character(s), Other, Protective Karasuno Volleyball Club, Slight Canon Divergence, Tiny Giant has a sibling, Tiny Giant's Little Sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-13 17:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21497665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seijoh_soul/pseuds/seijoh_soul
Summary: Udai Suzume has one dream: to join the boys volleyball club at Karasuno High School, and revive the title of Tiny Giant. There's just one problem...Udai Suzume is decidedly not a boy.Or the Tiny Giant has a little sister even better at volleyball than him.
Relationships: OC & Karasuno Volleyball Club
Series: Udai Suzume is a BAMF [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551685
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first Haikyuu!! fic, I know character inserts are out of style but I just really love this idea. Please let me know what you think!
> 
> Comments and kudos always welcome :)

Udai Suzume grew up with a volleyball in her hand.

She knew she wanted to follow in her big brother's footsteps the moment she saw him play. Udai Tenma, barely 5'6", playing a sport built for height. And he was _amazing_. The day of his first game, he came home to Suzume balancing a volleyball on her forearms. At only seven years old, there wasn't a club team she could join, but Tenma was more than happy to help his little sister grow. 

And so she followed his progress throughout the years, practicing whenever she had the time. She joined an official club team at nine, since that year Tenma started high school and wasn't around as much to practice with her. The next year, his high school went to Nationals. Suzume sat in the crowd along with her parents, watching her brother play the game that they both loved. 

"_Look at number ten go, he's like a Tiny Giant!_" 

Suzume caught her breath as she heard the announcer. _Tiny Giant_... 

When Tenma spiked the ball, sending it screaming toward the court, Suzume jumped up from her seat and ran to the railing of the stands. "Go Tiny Giant!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to help project her voice. Tenma looked back at her with a bewildered expression, but after a moment his mouth split open into a wide grin and he shouted in victory, his team following suit. After that, the nickname stuck, and Karasuno was the home of the Tiny Giant.

That night, Suzume was watching Tenma as he lazily set the ball, lying on his back on his bed. She wanted to hear what it felt like to play at the national level. They had lost and unfortunately couldn't continue on, but they gotten farther than Karasuno had ever been before. 

Suzume sat up suddenly, her movement causing Tenma to pause in his fiddling. "Onii-san, one day, I'm going to be a Tiny Giant, just like you!"

Tenma laughed. "That right? Well, you'll certainly be _tiny_."

She wasn't dissuaded. "I'm going to go to Karasuno like you, and join the volleyball club, and take them to Nationals, just like you did! And you'll be the stands cheering me on just like I did."

Her brother watched her for a moment, a calculating look on his face. Without warning, he tossed the ball to Suzume, who caught it with the tips of her fingers with ease, and tossed it back. It was an awkward exchange considering one of them was lying down and the other sitting on her knees, but they made it work. Tenma ended their little game and sat up, balancing his elbows on the ball. "Well, you'll have to work extra hard to get there. At Nationals, everyone is the best of the best. They're all bigger, faster, _stronger_ than anyone you'll have ever played before. Every second is a fight to stay on the court."

Suzume nodded enthusiastically. "I'll work my very hardest. I'll even be better than _you_."

At that, Tenma squawked and launched himself at her, tickling her sides until there were tears in her eyes from laughter. He may have taken it as a joke, but Suzume was serious. One day, she'll be Karasuno's next Tiny Giant, and she'll walk onto that orange court in Tokyo, and people will call Tenma "the Tiny Giant's brother". 

One day. 

~5 years later~

"Pardon me, sir, but are you Takeda-sensei? The faculty adviser for the volleyball club?"

Takeda Ittetsu looked up from his work to see a petite first-year student, a nervous smile on her face. Her long hair fell in a silky black sheet down her back, and her gray eyes were intense, like storm clouds on the horizon. She wasn't in one of his classes, Takeda decided, and so he nodded his affirmation. 

Her eyes lit up, and she dropped into a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sensei! My name is Udai Suzume, and I would like to join the team." She pulled a form out of her book bag and held it out for him to take. 

Takeda's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sorry, Udai-kun, but you have the wrong teacher. I'm the adviser for the _boys_ volleyball club."

Suzume's smile didn't waver. "I know sensei. I want to join the boys' club team." She kindly pointed to the bottom of her form. "See, I have my parents' signatures and everything."

He took the form, more than a little confused. Yes, it's right there at the top: _Karasuno High School Boys Volleyball Club Sign-Up_. Clear as day. Takeda looked back up to see a hopeful light in the girl's eyes. He wasn't quite sure what to do. He'd never had a girl request to join the boys team before. 

Takeda shook his head, and Suzume's smile dropped in an instant. "I do apologize, Udai-kun. But girls are not allowed on the boys' team. It wouldn't be fair to you or the players. If you want to play volleyball, I suggest you find Michimiya Yui, she is the captain of the girls' club team."

"But--" Suzume stopped herself. She shouldn't talk back to a teacher. She bowed again, a little short. "I understand, sensei. Thank you for your time." Silently she took back her sign-up form, refusing to let the tears gathering in her eyes fall. 

Suzume began her walk back to the front of the school, as the day was over and she clearly wasn't going to be joining the first practice. She tried her best to keep her head high, along with her pride. So what if she couldn't join the boys team? The girls team was just as good. Just as...

A tear tracked down her face and she quickly ducked away to the side of the building she was passing. She let out a shaky breath. Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment. She was Udai Tenma's sister, she was stronger than this! 

But playing for the boys team was always her dream. Playing with the girls...it wouldn't be the same. She wanted to follow in her brother's footsteps, and make it to the orange court and play at Nationals herself. More than anything, she wanted to _win_. 

A familiar sound pulled her from her thoughts. She walked around the corner of the building she was currently hiding behind, to see an open sliding door. Sneakers squeaking on polished wood, the bounce of a ball, the _whap_ of it hitting someone's hand...these were sounds Suzume knew all to well. She peeked inside the door. 

She found it slightly ironic that she subconsciously took herself to the boys volleyball practice gym. She told herself that she should leave before she was yelled at, but she couldn't help but watch the boy practice. He was tall (though she had to remind herself that that was normal for a volleyball player) and lithe, dressed in Karasuno's workout uniform. His dark hair fell into his deep blue eyes, shining with intensity. She only ever saw eyes like those in the mirror. This boy was determined to play volleyball, maybe as much as she was herself.

Silently, she watched as he spun the volleyball in his hands, before throwing it up in the air into a high, narrow arc. _A jump serve! _Suzume had always wanted to learn how to jump serve. 

The boy took a few steps forward before launching himself up in the air, his hand meeting the ball perfectly, sending it into a perfect curve. The volleyball bounced just inside the left-hand corner of the opposing court. The boy smirked, and nodded to himself. _He planned for it to go there?!_ One thing was for sure, this boy was amazing. 

Without really noticing she was doing it, Suzume opened her mouth and took a step forward, ready to introduce herself to the player. But then someone flew by her in a blur of red and orange, jumping and landing inside the gym in a crouch. She saw it was another boy, another player for the team she couldn't be a part of. He again was taller than her, though surprisingly not by much, maybe only a few centimeters. He straightened up and Suzume could see that he almost immediately tensed, balling his fists. 

"What are _you_ doing here?!" The boy shouted. Presumably it was at the other player, but Suzume flinched anyway. If the team players were already showing up...she needed to leave. She didn't want Takeda-sensei seeing her and scolding her. 

The first boy in the gym looked at the shorter boy in astonishment, the volleyball he threw in the air for another serve long forgotten, only for it to come back down and hit him square on the head. He looked past the ginger and locked eyes with her, his brow immediately furrowing. "Hey--"

Suzume yelped and took off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay that was super fun to write. Ngl I always liked the idea of playing volleyball, but I actually broke two fingers the first time I ever played so I got scared of playing it (I was only eleven at the time), and I was always a softball girl at heart. But Haikyuu!! definitely brought out that competitive side of me again, and so I decided to write this fic after I had a dream where I was on the Karasuno team myself, and before I knew it I had the entire character of Udai Suzume in my head.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzume has been rejected for playing for the boys team, but she won't give up that easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by rocksaltandroses, as always :)

The first week of high school went by, and Suzume was absolutely miserable. 

Despite being rejected for the boys team by Takeda-sensei, she didn't want to join the girls team. Not yet, at least. She was determined to be on the same team as her brother. So she kept up her practice before and after school, in her backyard as she had done with Tenma before he left for college. It was exponentially harder on her own, and much lonelier too, but she made it work. And every day on her break, she went to the faculty offices and asked Takeda if he had changed his mind. She was always persistent when it came to something she wanted. 

She could tell the adviser was getting frustrated with her, but he was the only one who could officially allow her on the team, as they didn't have a coach. Not even the team captain (whom she learned was Daichi Sawamura) or the team manager (Kiyoko Shimizu) had that power. So she was going to try her hardest to get Takeda to cave. 

The Thursday of the second week of school, Suzume came home and collapsed on her bed. Takeda wasn't in his office that day, and when she peeked into the gym, she only saw the team practicing. She could practically feel her heart ache as she watched them work through drills. It wasn't that she _wanted_ to be on the court; she _needed_ to be on the court. It was like a physical thing inside of her. But she had a feeling that Takeda was avoiding her, and she was starting to accept that she just wasn't going to be a member of the boys volleyball club. 

Suzume's mom, Udai Kosuke, came into her room to see her daughter still in her school uniform, sprawled across her bed with one arm hanging off, rolling a volleyball back and forth on the floor. When she called her name, Suzume barely grunted in response. 

Kosuke sighed in exasperation. "Suzume, you knew it was going to be a long shot from the beginning. Are you sure you don't want to join the girls' team? At least you'll be playing for Karasuno."

"It wouldn't be the same," Suzume mumbled. The volleyball rolled out of her reach and she groaned. "Apt metaphor."

Kosuke pressed her fingers to her temples, not quite feeling up to dealing with Suzume's mood swings. "Why don't you call your brother? He should be home from classes by now. He was always the one to cheer you up, I'm sure he'll make you feel better now." She walked out of her daughter's room, calling over her shoulder that dinner would be ready in an hour. 

Suzume sighed, before dragging herself off of her bed and to her desk. Her mother was right, after all. Tenma always knew what to say. Maybe he could help her figure out how to get onto the team. She booted up her computer and went to Skype, crossing her fingers that her brother was online.

The green dot blinked cheerily at her, and she requested a video chat. The computer rang for a few moments, before a pixelated Tenma appeared on the screen. 

_"Hey hey, nee-chan! How are you? Whoa, the uniform has changed a bit since I saw it last."_Tenma looked upbeat, a wide smile on his face. His hair was a little longer than when she had seen him last, and his cheeks looked a little chubbier. No doubt he had lost a fair amount of muscle mass, since he stopped playing volleyball once he went off to college. 

When he told Suzume that he was quitting volleyball, she didn't speak to him for about a week. After all, volleyball was the one thing above all others that they shared together. And she always thought she would be watching him in the Olympics one day, the ultimate dream. But Tenma just wasn't as invested in the sport as Suzume was. It didn't help that he wasn't offered any scholarships for volleyball for college. So he handed down his equipment to her, and she continued to play for the both of them, even more determined to take his old nickname for herself and surpass him.

"Hi, nii-san. How're your classes this year?" 

Tenma shrugged. _"The same as last year I guess, only a lot harder. What's up? You look upset."_ He could always tell what she was thinking.

Suzume dropped her chin into her hand. "Nothing, just...I tried to go out for the volleyball team, but the faculty adviser denied me. He said that a girl can't play on the boys' team. He said it would be unfair to the other players."

Her brother leaned forward, frowning. _"Why do you want to be on the boys team? They have a girls team, don't they?"_

"It--it wouldn't be the same. I want to follow _you_, and that means the boys team. I know that I'm strong enough, and tough enough. I sneaked a peek at their practice today and I'm positive that I could keep up with them. I do more training on my own than they do as a team." Suzume pressed her palms into her eyes, to keep from crying out of frustration. "Remember your graduation? Coach Ukai told me that day that girls are just as good at volleyball as boys are. He told me that he was looking forward to me joining the team once I was in high school. I _know_ he meant the boys team."

Tenma's eyebrows rose. _"Ukai-sama said that? I didn't even know."_

Suzume nodded. "But now he's retired and Karasuno doesn't have a coach, so the adviser is in charge of final decisions. I just wish...I don't know, that Ukai-sama could've left a note or something saying that girls could play on the boys team."

Her brother hummed, the sound coming out a little fuzzy. _"Well, does the rulebook say that girls can't join?"_

Suzume's mouth dropped open. The rulebook. _The rulebook!_ She had completely forgotten about that! "Tenma, do you--"

_"There should be a copy in the top drawer of my desk."_

She thanked him and ended the call, jumping up from her chair and bolting to the room across from hers. Plenty of Tenma's things were still in his room, such as old volleyball posters and medals, academic awards, etc. etc. Suzume tore open the drawer he mentioned, rifling through it until she found a small orange-and-black notebook. 

_Karasuno High School Boys Volleyball Club Handbook._

If there wasn't a mention of girls playing on the team, maybe, just maybe, Suzume had her way in. 

~*~

Suzume walked into homeroom early the next day, bouncing on her toes in anticipation. She only had to get through a few hours of school. Her grip on her athletic bag tightened, and she resisted the urge to pull out her volleyball and bounce it on her forearms. 

Her classmates filed in one by one, in varying degrees of sleeplessness. One of her classmates lingered by the door, talking with someone Suzume presumed was his friend. It made her curious, as the tall, bespectacled blonde seemed to be the brooding, loner type. But his friend was bright and bubbly. _He's pretty cute_...

"So, Tsukki, what do you think of Coach Ukai?"

Suzume sat ramrod straight in her seat and stared at the two boys in the doorway. There was no way...

"He seems tough. I don't think there will be any time for rest at practices anymore, not that Daichi allowed us that anyway. But Ukai-san seems really invested in beating Nekoma, so I guess we'll have to work harder," the blonde boy said. The names he dropped rung in Suzume's ears. 

As discreet as possible, she pulled out her phone and texted her brother.

**Suzume**

_!!!Coach Ukai is back-_

_!!He'll let me play for sure-_

**Tenma nii-san**

_-!!!!!!!! _\\( * o *)/

Hiding her snort with a cough, she pocketed her phone, even more anxious for the day to be over than before. If Coach Ukai was back at Karasuno, they were going to make it to Nationals for sure...

Suzume went through the rest of her classes in a sort of daze, the only thing on her mind being volleyball. She wondered what position Ukai-sama would give her on the court. Would she be a starting player? No, don't be silly, she's just a first year. But her brother was in the starting line _his_ first year. And what about jersey numbers? She wanted more than anything to share the same number as Tenma, but would it be too much to ask for it?

She couldn't _wait_ to get back on the court.

The second the final bell rang, she was on her feet, racing to the gym. Only stopping to put her workout uniform on, she wove expertly between students, calling out "excuse me"s and "sorry"s behind her shoulder as she ran. She could hear the _thud_ of volleyballs hitting the court. Her blood was loud in her ears, her pulse fast. This was it. _This was it!_

She squealed to a halt as Takeda-sensei appeared in the gym doorway. He took a step back at the sight of a student barreling toward him, but sighed once he recognized who she was. "Udai-kun, I've told you plenty of times. You can't join the team."

Suzume took a moment to catch her breath. "Sensei, may I please speak with Ukai-sama?" 

Takeda blinked in surprise. "Coach Ukai? How'd you even know--"

"Please, sensei."

She bowed forward and let her hair fall around her shoulders, obscuring her face. She didn't move from that position until she heard Takeda puff out a sharp breath. "Okay, Udai-kun..."

She jumped up. "Really? Oh, thank you sensei! Thank you so much!"

Takeda was a little taken aback at her gratitude. He stepped to the side of the doorway and gestured for her to walk in. She did so confidently, head raised high and hands wrapped around the strap of her athletic bag. 

Suzume looked around for Ukai-sama, but didn't see him anywhere. She saw the manager, Kiyoko-san, and the two boys she kind-of sort-of met on the first day, as well as her classmate and his friend. They were all staring at her. The small orange-haired boy had a flushed face. She looked at the other players of the team, noting their facial features to help her recognize them in the future, as well as the numbers on their mesh jerseys. They must have been getting ready to start a scrimmage. But no Ukai. 

Takeda waved over a tall blonde man, a headband keeping his long hair out of his face. "Ukai-san, this is Udai Suzume. She wanted to speak with you."

Suzume's eyes widened slightly. "U-Ukai?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Oh. Are you...related to the previous Coach Ukai?"

He nodded. "He's my grandfather."

Oh.

Okay. 

Change of tactics, then.

Suzume bowed quickly. "It is very nice to meet you, Ukai-san. I am Udai Suzume, and I would very much like to join this team."

The gym exploded into chaos. 

_"What?!"_ she heard at least four of the boys yell. 

"A girl can't join the boys team!" Her classmate scoffed. 

The boy with the buzz cut started laughing. Well, that one hurt. 

"Quiet!" Ukai snapped. He turned to face Suzume. "Why do you want to join this team, Udai-kun? You know Karasuno has a girls team, right?"

"I've been telling her that since the first day of school," Takeda muttered. 

Suzume felt her cheeks flush as Ukai’s expression changed to one of impatience, as if he already decided she was wasting his time. She took a deep breath. "With all due respect, Ukai-san, Takeda-sensei; I've only ever wanted to play for _this_ team. I've been playing volleyball since I was seven. I don't want it to seem like I am arrogant, but I'm a good player. Volleyball has been my whole life for nearly a decade. And I believe that this is the team that will challenge me to grow the most."

Silence.

The boy wearing the number 1 mesh jersey walked up to Ukai. Suzume pegged him to be the captain, Daichi Sawamura. She bowed to him as well. 

Daichi took a moment to appraise her, before turning to his coach. "Why couldn't she play?"

Takeda balked. "Daichi-kun, it would be far too dangerous for a girl to play on the boys team! She could get hurt, or cause one of you to be injured. There has to be a rule against it--"

Suzume cleared her throat. "I beg your pardon, sensei, but there isn't." She reached into her athletic bag and pulled out the volleyball club's handbook. "I've read it over twice and there is no mention of girls being prohibited from joining the team. On that basis, I should at least be given a chance to try out."

Ukai looked impressed. "Well, you certainly did your homework, Udai-kun. Daichi?" He turned to the captain, who in turn looked back at two other boys--one with silver hair, and the buzz-headed boy. The latter looked extremely stressed.

"I don't know, Daichi-san," Buzz-Boy said. "She's so small, smaller than Nishinoya...what if she couldn't handle it?"

Suzume bristled at that. She knew it was rude to talk back to her senpai (if she got on the team, that is), but she had had enough of men telling her she was too weak. She walked toward him, taking her zip-up off as she went. She threw it at the ground at his feet, now only wearing her workout tank-top and sweats, showing off her bare arms to the team. The younger boys all squawked and looked away, their ears turning red. But at that moment, she didn't care. She wanted these boys to see her muscles. She wanted them to know how capable she was on the court.

She folded her arms and looked defiantly up at Buzz-Boy. "Looks can be deceiving. I may be small, but I can _fly_."

The team froze at that. Slowly, they all turned to the ginger, who was staring at her like she personally offended him. Buzz-Boy sauntered up to him and threw his arm around his shoulders. "Oho, looks like you've got some competition there, Hinata-kun!"

Suzume quirked an eyebrow. Why would she be competition for Hinata? Other than the fact that they were both short. She narrowed her eyes at him in study, appraising his muscle definition. Yeah, she was pretty sure she could take him. 

Ukai cleared his throat and brought the attention of the room back to him. "What position do you play, Udai-kun?"

She stood a little straighter, rolling back her shoulders. She didn't miss the small _"whoa"_ from Buzz-Boy as her shoulder-muscles rippled across her back. "I've played Libero in the past, Ukai-san, but my regular position is Wing-Spiker."

Hinata made a weird noise, almost like a bird choking. 

The coach hummed. "This just keeps getting more interesting. I'm sure you've heard this before, but it takes an awful lot of speed and power to hold down a Spiker position."

"I can do it, Ukai-sama."

The silver-haired boy smirked at Suzume's obvious flattery, but it seemed to work, as Ukai let out a bark of laughter. He might've said something in response, but at that moment a group of men walked into the gym. 

"Man, this place hasn't changed!" One man said.

Another nodded. "This sure takes me back."

Suzume gasped. The team all watched, gobsmacked, as she ran up to one of the men, who had curly light brown hair. "Mori-san!" She said, delighted. 

Mori looked at her in shock for a moment. Then he laughed, and ruffled her hair. "Suzucchan! I haven't seen you in years! What are you doing here?"

"Well..." Suzume looked back at Ukai, hopeful. This couldn't have been more perfect timing for her. With a connection to the apparent Neighborhood Association Team, Ukai wouldn't be able to back down very easily. 

He seemed to know it, too. Ukai let out a breathy chuckle, before addressing Karasuno's opponents for the scrimmage. "She's a player."

"Ha?!" Mori yelled, before punching Suzume in the arm. "You actually did it, Suzucchan!"

Suzume laughed loudly, before punching him back, much to the surprise of pretty much everyone in the gym. "Ye of little faith, Mori-senpai!"

Ukai watched the exchange, clearly amused. "So you two know each other, I'm gathering?"

"Oh, sure," Mori said. "I played with her older brother. She was always yapping about following in his footsteps."

Hinata stepped forward, despite his still red face. "Oh, you're so lucky to have an older brother who plays volleyball! He played here at Karasuno? What's his name?"

Suzume laughed a little awkwardly. She didn't want to tell Ukai that she was Udai Tenma's little sister, in case that swayed his opinion of her, whether it be positive or negative. She wanted to prove her own worth to the team, without dropping names. "Ahh, you probably don't know him."

Mori snorted. The inside joke was lost on the rest of the boys, though Mori murmured something to the rest of the Neighborhood Association, and they all looked at her, impressed. Suzume felt her ears getting hot. 

There was a beat, before Ukai clapped his hands together. "Okay, let's get this thing started! Udai-kun, go get changed."

Suzume beamed. "You really mean it, Coach?"

He shrugged. "Consider today a trial run. You hold your own in the game, you can be on the team. If not, I don't need a liability right before the Nekoma game."

"I heard about that!" Suzume bounced on the balls of her feet. "We haven't played Nekoma in nearly five years! It's so exciting!"

"Heh. Now go, hurry up so we can start."

"Yes, sir!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Suzume in Japanese means sparrow, which is why this fic is called The Sparrow's Calling. Also fun fact but sparrows are notorious for getting in crows' personal space and dive-bombing them in order to steal their food, and crows are known for ganging up on sparrows to intimidate them. I thought that was funny imagery.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzume gets ready to play her first practice game with the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, beta read by rocksaltandroses, aka my bff Angela

The second time Suzume stepped into the gym, she was ready to play. 

Her long hair was swept back into a high ponytail-braid, and her face clean of the little makeup she had on before. Her workout tank-top remained, but her sweats were replaced with volleyball shorts, and she donned knee-pads, and medical tape on her fingers. Her volleyball shoes were tightly laced, the shoelaces still a bright purple from her middle-school team. She nodded to Ukai, and hurried to start stretching. The younger boys watched her, their expressions somewhere between entranced and horrified, as she effortlessly slid into a middle split, folding her body at the waist and stretching her arms in front of her. 

"How did she do that?" Hinata whispered to Tsukki's friend. The boy shrugged in response. 

Suzume moved through her stretches quickly, but still making sure to do them thoroughly. The last thing she wanted was to strain a muscle during the game and make Ukai take back his offer. Once she was done, she shook her arms out and bounced a few times, double-checking that she was warmed up. Then she approached the Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself, before bending over in a deep bow. "Hello! I am Udai Suzume, please take care of me!"

Suzume straightened to see the boys staring at her, varying degrees of disbelief painted on their faces. 

Daichi stepped forward, holding his hand out to shake. "Daichi Sawamura. I'm the team captain." Suzume grasped his hand tightly, happy that at least someone was actually talking to her, and not just staring like she was an alien. Daichi pointed to the silver-haired boy. "This is the vice-captain, Sugawara Koushi." He pointed to each player in turn, giving names to faces. 

The blonde boy, whose name was apparently _not _Tsukki, but Tsukishima, tilted his head at her, a bored expression on his face. "I know you. You're in my homeroom."

Hinata gaped at her. "So you're smart, too?"

Suzume furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Uhm, I guess?"

Next, it was Kageyama's turn to recognize her. "Wait. You were that girl watching me serve on the first day!"

The team looked at her all at once. She blushed in embarrassment. "I wasn't _watching_ you! I just...wanted to be on the court, is all."

Kageyama sobered at this. She knew they shared a similar mindset when it came to volleyball. This only proved it further. 

Ukai clapped his hands together. "Okay, let's get this thing started!"

"Right!" the team said in unison, aside from one boy. Suzume looked at him in confusion. He was short--like, shorter than her--with spikey hair bleached at the front. He was covered in small bruises. Daichi said his name was...Nishinoya? He was the Libero of the team, according to him. 

Ukai followed her gaze and frowned at Nishinoya. "Hey, you. What's wrong?" The boy flinched, refusing to meet the coach's gaze

Daichi stepped forward, arms up in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry, he's not ready."

"Ha? Whadd'ya mean, not ready? He doesn't look injured." To Nishinoya, he said, "Whatever the case, go and join the NA team. Our Libero is tied up at work."

Suzume perked up a little. "I can do it!"

Ukai shook his head at her. "No, you said you're a Wing-Spiker, so I want to see how you do with that. You join the NA team too."

She shrugged, not entirely bothered by being shut down. She was just happy she was getting to play at all. She wasn't about to look a gift horse in the face and protest. Suzume ducked under the net and stood next to Mori, who introduced her to the other members of the NA team. 

Ukai hummed in thought. "We still need at least one more person. You have other people, right?" he said to Daichi. 

Hinata stood straight and suddenly ran to the window, jumping up and grabbing the bars. "Hey look! It's Asahi! ASAHI-SAN!" 

Suzume heard someone outside yelp in surprise. 

Ukai ran to the doors. "A tardy person? Are you yanking my chain? State your position!"

A quiet voice said, "Uhm, Wing-Spiker."

Suzume frowned a little. How many Wing-Spikers did this team have?!

"We need more players! Get in here and get warmed up!" Ukai shouted at the boy. "Make it snappy!"

Everyone looked at the doorway in anticipation, making Suzume curious. This boy must have been a big deal if the whole team was as excited as they were to see him. A moment later, an extremely tall boy with an apprehensive look on his face stepped through into the gym. He had long hair tied back into a bun, and even a goatee. _He must be a third-year_, Suzume reasoned. He looked way too old to not be one. 

Sugawara leaned down to talk to Suzume. "That's Asahi Azumane. He's our ace." 

Suzume's eyes widened. This boy...this was the one she needed to pay attention to the most. If she was going to be ace like her brother before her, she had better keep up with Asahi at the very least.

Ukai nodded. "Good, good. Now we have the chance to sub in and out. All we need now is a setter." He looked to the team. "Loan me one of your setters."

Kageyama and Sugawara looked at each other. After a minute, Sugawara stepped forward.

Kageyama grabbed his arm to hold him back. "Sugawara-san! You're not deferring to me, are you? If rising in the ranks comes at your expense, I'm out."

Suzume watched the exchange with interest. She had only seen Kageyama practice serves so far, so she marveled at the apparent fact that he was a good enough setter to give the vice-captain a run for his money. She was looking forward to practicing with him, and see if their mutual intensity for the game matched up well. 

Sugawara clenched his fists. "This whole time, I prepared to fight you for the official setter position. But after you joined the team, I felt relieved somehow. A setter is the team's attack axis. He must be steadfast. But I was too freaked out to toss properly. I was so afraid of submitting the spiker to repeated blocks because of my tosses, that I hid in the shadow of Kageyama's overwhelming talent." He looked up at Asahi. "The very thought of a spike being blocked still scares me. But...please let me toss to you one more time, Asahi!"

Suzume stepped back behind the team, ducking her head in shame. Of course, Asahi was the ace. She would automatically defer to him. It didn't make a difference if she was a girl or not, she was a first-year. 

But Sugawara trained his eyes on her, anyway. "And Udai-kun, let me throw your first toss."

Suzume smiled brightly, stepping forward and nodding. "Yes, please!"

(Faintly, she heard Asahi make a choked sound and ask Nishinoya, _"What is a girl doing here?"_ but she didn't care at that moment.)

A competitive smile overtook Sugawara's face. He turned his head back around to look at Kageyama. "And Kageyama? I'm not going to lose."

The first-year's face remained impassive. "Me neither."

The teams lined up, Suzume on the end, next to Nishinoya. At Ukai's whistle, they bowed to each other. "Thank you for the game!"

Time to begin.

~*~

The teams set up on the court. Takinoue smirked, and said, "Come at me, high schoolers!"

Suzume was doing her very best not to pout. Ukai had, of course, had Asahi start out as Wing-Spiker. He told her that they would switch out once the NA completed a full rotation. So she stood on the sidelines with Nishinoya, who was staring intently at Asahi.

She asked him, "Are you mad at Asahi-san for something?"

Nishinoya startled. "What makes you say that?!"

Suzume let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Well, you've sort of been glaring at him since he walked in. I'm sorry if I jumped to conclusions."

"No, no that's okay," Nishinoya assured her. He looked back at Asahi, who was crouching down in a ready stance. "It's a long story."

Suzume nodded, knowing not to pry. 

The game began, each team stealing a point fairly quickly. Suzume started bouncing on the balls of her feet, eager to get on the court. Just watching made her restless to play. She wanted to show Ukai, Daichi, the whole of Karasuno that she deserved to be on the court. 

Sugawara readied for the ball, tossing it to Takinoue, who spiked it cleanly, earning another point. "Nice toss!" he said to the setter.

Suzume let out a low whistle. "Wow, Sugawara-san is amazing! I can't wait to hit a toss from him!"

Evidently he heard her, because he turned around and gave her a winning smile, pointing a thumbs up at her. Suzume returned the gesture excitedly. 

As the game continued, she grew more and more restless. Nishinoya was repeatedly subbing in and out, and she wished she could be the Libero just so she could be on the court, even if it was for just a minute. Her fingers were itching for the need to hit the ball. 

The ball was on Karasuno's side of the court. Tanaka sent it to Kageyama, who looked like he barely touched it before it was hurtling toward Hinata. Suzume did a double take. Hinata was halfway clear of the net! She hadn't seen a player jump that high since...well, since Tenma. 

Hinata spiked the ball hard, sending it across the court to score unobstructed. The NA team stopped in amazement. 

Suzume jumped up and down. "Hinata-kun, Kageyama-kun, that was amazing! You jumped so high!"

The two boys looked flustered at the praise. Hinata recovered first, puffing his chest proudly and pointing at himself. "I'm gonna be the next Tiny Giant!"

Suzume stopped jumping. _The next Tiny Giant? He can't be, that title belongs to the Udai siblings!_

She folded her arms across her chest. "The Tiny Giant, huh?"

The ginger nodded enthusiastically, but couldn't say anything else as play resumed. Mori was currently out, as Nishinoya was on the court. He leaned down toward Suzume and spoke lowly, "Oho, I see someone is a little jealous."

Suzume scoffed. "If anyone is going to claim the title Tiny Giant, it's going to be _me_, Mori-senpai. Tenma passed it down to me, and I'm not going to let him down."

Mori held up his hands placantingly. "Hey, I'm just saying it looks like you've got some competition here. I hope you're up for it, Suzucchan."

"I welcome it."

The shrill sound of Ukai's whistle cut through their conversation. Hinata was up to serve. Suzume could tell that serving wasn't something he practiced much, if not by his expression alone then by the way the ball grazed the top of the net. Shimida dove forward and managed to save it, hitting it to the back of the court. "Sorry, cover!"

"I've got it!" Uchizawa said, bumping it back to the front. "Long-haired guy, seal the deal!"

Suzume leaned forward. This was it. She was going to see what Karasuno's ace was made of. He had a triple block on him, Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka all ready to jump. Asahi hit the ball with all his strength...right into Kageyama's space. The boy's right arm recoiled back from the force, but he managed to block the ball. Suzume thought for sure it was a point for Karasuno, but then Nishinoya dove, sliding his hand just under the ball.

"Go Nishinoya-san!" Suzume yelled.

Shimada stuttered out a call. "It-It's up!"

"NOYAAA!" Suzume heard Tanaka cry out, his eyes tearing up. She stifled a laugh. "YOU'RE SO COOL!"

Nishinoya jumped back up into ready position. "Call for a toss one more time, Ace!"

The ball was coming down to Sugawara. He looked conflicted, not sure where to toss it. 

"Sugawara-san!" Kageyama shouted. "Give them to him until he scores!"

Tsukishima smirked at the boy. "You're such a sadist, King."

Suzume raised an eyebrow. King, huh? She would have to look into _that_ nickname later. 

Sugawara needed to know where to toss. The ball was almost at his fingers. Shimada raised a hand. "I'm free!"

The setter looked back at him, shifting his stance. "Shimada-san--"

_"SUGA!" _

Suzume looked at Asahi in astonishment. She hadn't seen that determined expression on him yet. He no longer looked unsure of himself. He looked like an ace.

Asahi raised his hand, and shouted at Sugawara, "One more!"

Sugawara glanced at him for a second, and then the ball came down. The toss was high, slightly in front of the net. It seemed like a specific toss, relevant to Asahi and Sugawara's partnership. Suzume clenched her fists, biting her lip to keep from shouting.

Then Asahi was taking a step forward, and leaping up. The triple-block was back, but it was like Asahi didn't even see them. He pulled his arm back...

_Wham!_

The ball broke clean through Kageyama and Tsukishima's block, hitting the court with immense force. The resounding bounce carried the ball all the way to the back wall. 

The gym was quiet. Then the team exploded. 

"That's what I'm talking about!"

"Asahi-san, you're so cool!"

"Nice one, Ace!"

Suzume let out a high squeal, clapping her hands together. Asahi looked over at her, bewildered. "Asahi-senpai, that was incredible! Teach me how to do that, please!"

The tall boy blinked back at her a few times, like he had forgotten she was there. Sugawara told him, "That's Udai Suzume. She's here on a trial run. This game is her try-out. She's a Wing-Spiker."

Asahi still looked a little confused, but nodded all the same. The bashful, uncertain boy was back. "Uhm...sure, Udai-chan."

She beamed. Asahi's eyes widened, like he had never seen anyone look at him like that before. It was a pleasant feeling.

Ukai blew two short blips on his whistle. "Asahi, Udai, switch!"

Suzume blew out a deep breath. She jogged onto court, high-fiving Asahi on her way past him. She took his place as Wing-Spiker, facing down Kageyama. He was watching her with narrowed eyes. She shot him a devious smile in return. _You want to see a jump? I'll show you a jump._

The game resumed. 

~*~

After the fifth receive, Suzume was gritting her teeth. The boys seemed hell-bent on not allowing her to spike. Was this some sort of hazing? It seemed to only be the first-years. Daichi kept yelling at them to stop targeting her. Nishinoya was out with Asahi, leaving her as the best receiver. 

She dove to catch another spike from Hinata. He was trying to catch her off guard with his and Kageyama's quick attack. So far, it wasn't working. 

"Agh, she dug it again!" Hinata whined. "I can't get around her!"

Kageyama clicked his tongue. He and Hinata shared a weird look, and seemed to come to a silent agreement. 

Mori sent the ball back to the other side of the court, but Tanaka dug it. "Kageyama, cover!"

Suzume ground her toe into the court, biting her lip in concentration. 

And then the ball was bouncing behind her. 

She didn't even see the set. 

Her, Asahi, and the NA team all gaped. Hinata and Kageyama were panting. She looked behind her at the volleyball slowly rolling to a stop. 

"What the _hell _was that?!" She stormed up to the next, glaring at the two boys. These two...they were _insane_.

Kageyama smirked. "Think you can dig that, Udai?"

She bristled. She was about to take a step forward, but a hand caught her shoulder. She looked back at Sugawara, who was shaking his head. Suzume took a deep breath, clearing her head. She couldn't afford to lose her cool at her try-out. 

Instead, she turned back to the freak duo and gave them her most brilliant smile. "Nice kill, Hinata-kun, Kageyama-kun!"

They looked at each other, shocked. 

She turned her back to them, walking up to Sugawara as Tsukishima prepared for the serve. "Sugawara-san, when I get the chance to spike, can you do a back set?"

"A back set?"

Suzume nodded. "I want to feint them out. Set behind you, please."

Sugawara looked apprehensive, but he nodded anyway. She thanked him and got into position. 

The two teams rallied for a few turns, neither of them willing to let the ball hit the ground. Finally, Tanaka spiked a straight down the right side of the court, the opposite side of Suzume. She guessed he was trying to be nice and give her a chance. _Wrong choice, Tanaka-senpai_, Suzume thought. 

Takinoue dug it, but the ball went wide, going to the wrong side where Suga was. _Perfect_. 

Suga ran to get under the ball. He looked at Suzume, and she nodded once. So he shouted, "Udai-kun!"

She started running toward the right, bringing a triple block with her. Uchizawa groaned indignantly. "How is that fair? There's no way she'll break through!"

Once she was only half a meter from the next, she suddenly turned on her foot and bolted down the line to the left. Suga set the ball behind him. She was clear, she was wide open!

Suzume crouched and jumped with all her strength. She heard someone shout, "It's a feint!" but it was too late for them. Too late for Karasuno...

Hands reached up above the net, and her eyes widened. Daichi! 

It felt like time slowed down as she reevaluated her potential moves. 

_I could still go for the straight, hit it above Daichi-san's block. But, Ennoshita-san is right behind him. He'd dig it no problem. I don't want that. I want to blow these guys away. I want an undisputed _kill. 

She switched her right hand for her left, and spiked the ball cross court to the unguarded right corner. 

The ball hit the court with a resounding _smack_. 

Suzume landed feather light on the balls of her feet, breathing heavily. When she saw she got the point, she pumped her fist in the air. "Yeah, all right!"

It took her a moment, but she realized she was the only one celebrating. Not even the whistle point blew. 

She looked back at her current team in confusion. They were all staring at her, their mouths wide open, unabashed. Asahi, Nishinoya, and Sugawara all looked like they were scared. She turned back to the Karasuno team, but they were the same. Desperate, she looked to Ukai standing on the stool next to the net. The whistle was barely in his mouth. 

"What?" she demanded. She just wanted someone to say _something_. 

"U-Udai..." Sugawara stammered. "You changed course...in midair. You--you hit the ball with your _left_ hand. How did you do that?!"

Tanaka spoke up next. "She jumped higher than Hinata did. I didn't think that was possible..."

Suzume was starting to get uncomfortable. "I just...I wanted the kill."

"You wanted--" Ukai stopped mid-sentence. He got down off the referee's stool and bent over, head in his hands. "Who are you?!"

She bowed once more. "I am Udai Suzume, Ukai-sama. And I want to play for Karasuno."

Silence. 

Then Daichi ducked under the net and surged forward, grabbing her upper arms with his hands and lifting her up in the air. "That was amazing! You--you're a prodigy!" He set her down and she stumbled, feeling a bit like she had whiplash. "Coach, say yes! Let her play!"

Ukai blinked a couple times to come back to himself. He looked back at Takeda. He was white as a sheet. "Sensei?"

He didn't say anything. Suzume was pretty sure he was in shock. She slowly walked up to him. "Er...Takeda-sensei?"

Takeda sputtered, waving his hands. "Yes! Yes, you can join the team."

Suzume gasped, stars in her eyes. "Really? You mean it!" She spun around once and then ran back to the her team's side of the court, skidding to a halt in front of Mori. "Mori-senpai, I did it! I actually did it! Ooh, Nii-san is gonna be so proud!"

Mori let out a weak laugh. "Suzucchan, your brother's not gonna know what hit him."

She laughed brightly. She really did it. She made it on the team. 

This was her calling. And she was ready to meet it. 

~*~

**Suzume**

_[12.3 attatchment jpg]_

_!!Check it out_

**Tenma nii-san**

_Wow!!!!! Knew you could do it <3 <3 <3_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference (since I am not an artist and therefore cannot draw anything for the life of me) the picture Suzume sent Tenma is her wearing the Karasuno Volleyball Club jacket.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team gets used to playing with Suzume, and a rivalry is born; Golden Week begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if Kags seems a little OOC in this chapter, I wanted to keep him as canon as possible but I couldn't resist him getting on Suzume's nerves.
> 
> Beta read by Angela (thankfully as it turned out I managed to misspell Suzu’s name in the ENTIRE chapter)

It didn't take long for the news that a girl joined the boys' volleyball club to spread around school. 

It wasn't like Suzume was hiding it. No, she was very proud to be a team member. She kept her club jacket draped over her book bag, to use if it was too cold for her uniform alone. A few students looked at her oddly, but she could handle the stares, and the gossip. The important thing to her, was that she was playing volleyball with a team again. 

With the added team practice, any time not devoted to school work was given to volleyball. Suzume was careful to keep her grades up, but she would go to sleep usually at eight in the evening, so she could wake up bright and early at five a.m. and put in extra work. She knew that a few of the boys weren't okay with her being on the team, so she had to excel beyond their abilities to prove she belonged there. 

The ones having the hardest time accepting her were Kageyama and Hinata. Based on their attitudes at her try-out, she wasn't entirely surprised. But she couldn't ignore it anymore when in practice, Kageyama screwed up her toss. For the third time. 

She landed, and rounded on him, flames in her eyes. "What's your problem, Kageyama? Are you trying to make me look bad so I get kicked off the team?"

Kageyama clicked his tongue in annoyance. "It's not my fault you can't hit a simple toss. Hinata spikes that just fine in our practices." The boy in question stood taller, clearly enjoying the praise.

Suzume scoffed. "Right, well, sorry that I'm not your boyfriend."

Both boys sputtered. 

"I'm not his--"

"We're not--"

Daichi clapped his hands together loudly, bringing their argument to a standstill. "Hey! We're a _team_, remember? Kageyama, Udai, you have got to learn how to work together if you want to play this year. Kageyama, stop using your freak quick toss on Udai. Listen to her requests and try giving her what she wants. Udai, stop antagonizing Kageyama. The more frustrated he gets the less chance he'll cooperate. Understood?"

Suzume and Kageyama looked down, their ears pink with embarrassment from being scolded. "Yes, Captain."

"Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"Yes, Captain!"

Tanaka wheezed. "Oh man, the first-years got chewed out!"

"Tanaka," Daichi snapped, "shut up."

"Right."

The door to the gym opened, and Takeda walked in, a stack of papers in his hand. "Ukai, I've got them."

The coach nodded, and blew his whistle. "Gather 'round!" Once everyone was in a semi-circle, he said, "Everyone here?"

"Yes, sir!"

Ukai put his hands on his hips. "Right. The practice game against Nekoma takes place in four days. After that, it'll be time for the Inter-Scholastic Preliminaries." He narrowed his eyes and stared the team down. Suzume felt extremely small under his gaze. "We're out of time, and you guys are full of weak spots. There is only one thing to do in order for you to win."

Suzume nodded. "Practice, practice, practice! Just like how Ukai-sama had always said!"

Ukai raised his eyebrow at her, while Tanaka and Tsukishima snickered behind her. She clicked her mouth shut, realizing she interrupted. "Sorry, Coach!"

He waved a hand nonchalantly. "No mind. She's right, that was what my grandfather would tell us. Over and over again, until we would hear his voice in our sleep! And now, I'm going to do the same to you rookies. Drills start now!"

Ukai worked them ruthlessly. First were receiving drills, until Suzume's arms were bright red from impact after impact. When she felt like the next receive would take her arms off completely, he moved them to spike practice. Kageyama and Suga set up in front of the net, the rest of the team creating two lines. 

"Udai," Ukai said, making her stop in her tracks. She was about to join Sugawara's line. "Practice with Kageyama. Before you leave today, I want the two of you able to handle each of the toss signals without fail."

Suzume bit the inside of her cheek to keep from protesting. She looked back at Kageyama, who looked about as thrilled as she did with the arrangement. "Yes, sir," she said briskly, and stalked to the end of Kageyama's line. The team ran through the drill, the familiar sounds of the court filling Suzume's ears, bringing out her competitive spirit. 

It was her turn. Ukai called out the play. He was starting them out easy, with just a simple drive. Suzume threw the ball to Kageyama, and ran forward. She watched as Kageyama made contact, then jumped, her arm swinging back ready to spike the ball with all her might--

The ball barely made contact with her fingers, becoming a tip instead. It landed softly on the other side of the court, barely bouncing. Suzume hit the ground, stumbling a little due to being thrown off balance. She turned on Kageyama, her fists clenched tight at her sides. "Argh, that was too far forward!"

Kageyama took a step forward in her direction, practically shouting. "It was fine! You needed to jump closer to the net!"

"If I jumped any closer, I would've gone _over_ it!"

_"Enough!"_ Ukai shouted. "You two have _got_ to stop fighting! Do it again, and do it _right_ this time."

They both seethed, but got back into position. Ukai blew his whistle and Suzume threw the ball to Kageyama again. Her anger propelled her forward even faster, and Kageyama responded in kind. This time, however, the toss was right where it needed to be. She imagined the ball was Kageyama's head as she spiked it with all the force she could muster. 

The ball hit the court with the echo of a backfiring car. 

Suzume and Kageyama were breathing heavily. Her palm stung from the contact. 

"Yes!" Ukai yelled. "Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!"

Suzume sniffed, not wanting to accept the praise if it meant Kageyama did well, too. Without looking back at him, she moved to the back of the line. 

~*~

By the time they met Ukai's satisfaction, the sun was down and Suzume could barely stay standing. Kageyama was leaning against the wall with a towel around his neck and a water bottle in his hand, his breaths short and quick. The rest of the team were standing on the sidelines, having been watching the two run play after play for the past hour. They all looked a little nauseated.

Ukai hummed. "Well, it's progress. We'll work on it more tomorrow."

Suzume and Kageyama both made unintelligible groaning noises in response. 

Daichi coughed a little, but Suzume couldn't tell if he was clearing his throat or covering up a laugh. "Alright, we're moving out!"

The team cleaned up the gym and packed their bags, changing into street clothes. They headed to a small training camp on the other side of the valley, a few miles from Karasuno High School. Hinata ran ahead, oohing and awing at every little thing. Kageyama smacked the back of his head. "You need to chill out, dumbass."

Hinata snapped back, "Shut up! I've never been to a training camp before!"

Suzume walks by them, rolling her eyes. "It's nothing special, it's just like regular practice except all day."

Tsukishima nodded in agreement. "I don't see what is so enticing about having a bunch of guys who smell like armpit in your face all day long."

"Tsukishima, how dare you!" Tanaka roared. "You are in the company of a lady!"

Kageyama snorted. "Udai's as much a lady as I am."

Suzume growled, stalking forward and grabbing Kageyama by the front of his shirt. "You wanna go, blueberry boy?!"

A hand pulled her back by the strap of her athletic bag. "You've been warned twice today already, Udai-kun. If Coach Ukai or Takeda-sensei catch you picking another fight, they might not let you stay for the camp," Suga told her, still pulling her backward toward the dining hall. Suzume stopped struggling and accepted her fate, her heels dragging against the linoleum floor. Her face burned as the echoes of laughter from her teammates bounced around her. 

The dining hall doors opened, and Takeda and Kiyoko ushered the team inside. There was a spread fit for a banquet laid across the table. Well, a banquet...or thirteen hungry athletes. 

They all bowed their heads. "Thank you for the food!"

Suzume ate with gusto. After that extra practice, she was practically shaking from lack of energy. And the food was delicious, which made it all the more better. 

Hinata looked at her with wide eyes, his cheeks full like a chipmunk's. "Wow Udai, you sure eat a lot for a girl!"

The team all groaned, and Noya smacked him upside the head, scolding him for being so rude. But Suzume was unphased. "I have to, if I want to keep my muscles strong. My metabolism can handle it. I've had a similar diet most of my life, since I started playing." She smiled fondly, closing her eyes in bliss as she took a bite of soba. "My brother and I used to have competitions to see who could eat the most. It was petty, but the winner got to make the loser do whatever volleyball practice they wanted, and they weren't allowed to complain. So we took it pretty seriously."

Yamaguchi leaned forward in interest. "What position did your brother play?"

Suzume swallowed her food before answering. "He was Wing-Spiker, like me. He's the one who taught me how to play, actually."

The freckled boy let out a small noise of awe. "He must be really, really good!" She smiled broadly at him. 

"Not as good as the Tiny Giant though, I bet!" Hinata added. 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "He wasn't _that_ amazing, Hinata."

"Yes, he was!"

Extra chatter around the table died down. Hinata and Suzume looked at each other with wide eyes. They had accidentally said the same thing in reply. Tsukishima smirked. Suzume didn't like the look on his face. 

Tanaka looked at the first-years in confusion. "I get Hinata coming to the Tiny Giant's defense...but Udai?"

Suzume tried to backtrack, laughing uncomfortably. "Well, I saw a few of the games he played in--"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Tsukishima drawled.

The team all stared at him. "What's obvious?" Kageyama demanded. 

Suzume wanted to melt into the floor. 

"Her last name is Udai," Tsukishima said, not even bothering to look up from his food. "Her older brother is the Tiny Giant himself."

~*~

Ukai snapped his fingers. "Of course! You're the spitting image of Tenma-kun, I don't know why I didn't piece it together before!"

"Really? He's your brother? He brought Karasuno to Nationals!" Noya shouted loudly.

Hinata was at a loss for words, his mouth gaping open and closed like a fish.

Suzume stuttered, her face bright red all the way from the tips of her ears down to her neck. "It--It's really not a big deal, guys..."

"HA?!" Hinata's voice was much too loud and much too close. She flinched from the volume. "Of course it's a big deal! Can I meet him? What's he like? Is he still playing--mmf!"

He was cut off abruptly as Suga slapped a hand across his mouth. "Stop hounding her, Hinata. Can't you tell she's uncomfortable?"

"Udai-chan, why didn't you tell us?" Asahi said softly, most likely trying not to overwhelm her. 

"I--" What was she supposed to say? "I didn't want you all to look at me and think _hey, that's the Tiny Giant's baby sister_. I wanted to earn my place on the team, without my name carrying me. I was banking on none of you knowing his name so you wouldn't make the connection." Suzume stood from the table, and bowed slightly, her eyes screwed tight. "I'm sorry for keeping this secret from you. You are my teammates and I should have trusted you. Please, forgive me."

Everyone blinked at her, unsure of what to say. The room was quiet for a minute. Then a small sniffle was heard. 

The boys all jumped up. "Udai-chan, don't cry!" Asahi yelped, his hands waving in panic. "Kiyoko-san, do you have a tissue?! We need a tissue!"

Daichi shouted above the chaos. "Quiet! Sit down." The team immediately obeyed. "Now. Udai obviously kept this a secret to avoid this exact reaction. I don't want to hear of anyone harassing her about her brother. She is our teammate, first and foremost, and we will not judge her based on familial ties. Right?"

"Right!" the team said back. 

They all went back to eating, conversation resuming after a moment. Slowly, Suzume sat back down. When she looked up, her eyes were dry and clear. Still, she shot Daichi a grateful look. The captain nodded in response.

When Kiyoko called for seconds, Tsukishima made a snide comment to Suzume about her helping out in the kitchen, and Suzume kicked his shin hard in retaliation, and whatever tension was lingering in the air dissipated. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the team now knows who Suzume is! At first, I wasn't going to have it mentioned at all, and Suzume was going to just suffer in silence every time Hinata's ambition to be the next TG was brought up (and by suffer in silence I mean trying her hardest not to explode) but as I was writing I realized that didn't really fit my narrative. Because of this, Tenma will most likely be introduced to the team a lot earlier than he is in the manga. Also, her rivalry with Kags isn't going to go away anytime soon. If anything, it's going to get worse because now Hinata sees her as a rival too, since they both want the title of Tiny Giant. They will eventually get along, but it's going to be rocky for a fair amount of time


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzume goes through some obstacles during Golden Week; Karasuno and Nekoma meet again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, beta-read by Angela
> 
> Be sure to read the notes at the bottom for some clarifications and cute bonuses

The next day of practice was somehow even more grueling than the day before.

Suzume and Kiyoko arrived at the camp at five-thirty, as there wasn't a space for girls to stay in the cabin. And since Kiyoko lived nearby, she had offered to take Suzume home with her, so she could get proper rest and time away from the boys. Noya and Tanaka had both looked extremely jealous.

The boys were all dragging their feet to the gym, still trying to rub the sleep from their eyes. Suzume skipped up to them, a bright smile on her face. "Morning, everyone! How'd you sleep?"

Kageyama glared at her like she insulted his mother. "How can you be so happy this early in the morning?"

She shrugged. "I wake up at five anyway, to get a workout in before school." She jumped in place a few times, ready to work her sore muscles. 

"Ha?" Asahi looked utterly shocked. "You mean you do even more work than our morning practices?"

"Of course. The practice we do is good, but not nearly enough to improve."

The boys took a moment to stare at her. Then Tsukishima yawned, said, "You're crazy," and the spell was broken. The team continued their trek to the gym, grumbling obscenities about the hour under their breath. Suzume watched them shuffle past her, a fond smile adorning her face, before she jogged to catch up with them. 

She felt much better than she had the night before. Once it set in that everyone knew her brother was the Tiny Giant, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders. It felt good to not be keeping any secrets from her team. And she had a good feeling about the rest of the camp. She was ready for some team bonding.

They started with receives once again, Ukai even more intense. Fortunately, they all managed to make their five receives relatively quickly, and moved through the rotation within a couple of hours. 

"Okay, next up is running," Ukai said.

Daichi bowed, the rest of them following suit. "Thank you!" They all migrated to the door, exchanging their court shoes for their outdoor shoes. "Let's go, hurry up!" 

Kageyama and Hinata immediately took off, running past Daichi in favor of racing each other. Suzume frowned at them. They were wasting their energy, it was clear this was going to be a long run, so they shouldn't have been burning through their limits right at the beginning. 

Daichi clearly felt the same. "Hinata! Don't yell while you're running, you'll just waste your breath faster."

Hinata didn't seem to hear him. He bent his head down and picked up the pace, screaming all the while. Pretty soon he left Kageyama in the dust, pulling ahead around a corner, and out of sight. When the rest of the team rounded the block, the ginger was no where to be seen. 

Suzume puffed out a breath. "Great, we lost Hinata."

Daichi pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Suga, you go and track Hinata down. Then meet us at the third checkpoint."

"Right," Suga nodded, and headed off the cross street. 

A sly smirk blossomed on Suzume's face, and she sidled up to Kageyama. "How sad, your boyfriend left you behind."

Kageyama's shoulders hunched up past his ears and he turned to shout in her face. "Stop calling him that!"

Daichi groaned and was ready to step between the quarreling freshmen, but Suzume simply laughed, delighted. "Oh come on, Bakeyama, can't take a joke?"

Kageyama roared and it looked like he was about to push her or punch her, but she ducked under his arm and ended up behind him, starting the run up again. 

He stared after her, fuming, until she looked over her shoulder and called, "What, you can't keep up with a _girl?_"

The setter raced after her so fast, it was easy to imagine a dust trail in his wake. Daichi let out a heavy sigh that should have belonged to someone much, much older than he was. "Come on, let's catch up to them before they kill each other."

~*~

On Saturday, the last official day of the training camp, everyone was more restless than usual. Tomorrow was the day of the Nekoma game. Karasuno was finally going to get a chance to play their rivals, after five years of radio silence. The last time they played against the Cats, Udai Tenma was on the team. Now it was Suzume's turn. 

After calling the team to gather around, Ukai held up a board. "This is our starting order for the Nekoma game."

Suzume scanned it quickly, and tried not to let her disappointment show on her face. She wasn't a part of the starting lineup. She told herself she shouldn't have been surprised. After all, she had a feeling that Kageyama was going to be the setter, and even after three days of intense training, they still were hostile toward each other on the court. Plus, the team now had four Wing-Spikers, and she was the only first-year in that mix. Naturally her senpais would be given the position ahead of her. 

Her and Yamaguchi exchanged a look. It did hurt that they were the only first-years not on the court. 

The boys took their positions on the court, and Suzume stood on the sidelines with the rest of the team. Suga looked pretty stone-faced. 

"You haven't had much time to get acquainted," Ukai said. "I don't expect you to function with mechanical precision. Especially with some animosity still lingering between players." He shot a meaningful glance at Suzume and Kageyama, who both tensed and looked away. "Just because a hotshot Libero and the ace returned, and we have a few fiery freshmen, doesn't mean victory is in our laps. The winner of the game keeps the ball in play."

Ukai stepped back and appraised them. "We'll see how far this ragtag team can go."

As they began to break down the gym, the atmosphere was subdued. Suzume and Kageyama seemed to be under their own personal rain clouds. Suzume felt ashamed of how she had been acting in practice lately. It wasn't fair to Kageyama or Hinata for her to dismiss them, simply because they had a play that she couldn't do. 

"Ennoshita-san, you got this?" She asked, pointing at the bin of volleyballs. "I need to do something real quick." Ennoshita cocked his head in confusion, but nodded nonetheless. She thanked him, and then walked over to the freak duo, who were taking down the net. 

Once she was in their field of vision, the two boys bristled and seemed to go on the defensive, like she was coming to start a fight. 

Suzume took a deep breath. Deep inside, her pride was screaming at her to walk away. But her pride meant nothing if she didn't act like someone to be proud _of_. "Hinata, Kageyama...I wish to apologize."

"Eh?!" the boys screeched. Clearly that was _not_ what they were expecting. 

"I have been treating the two of you unfairly," she continued, "and acting foolishly. I let my pride and competitive spirit get in the way of the team. I felt like...like I would have rather played by myself instead of with you two."

Kageyama's shoulders slumped, his eyes wide.

Suzume bowed slightly to the two of them, and they made small noises of shock. "I would very much like to be friends, if you are okay with that. I know that everything won't be fixed right away, but at the very least, I want to be able to work together on the court." She straightened and held out her fist. "What do you say, teammates?"

They didn't move. She knew that everyone was watching them, but she refused to back down, until they either accepted or rejected her offer. 

Hinata drew himself up to his full height (which was still only a few centimeters taller than Suzume), and knocked his fist against hers. "Teammates." He looked over at Kageyama, and elbowed him sharply in the side. "Idiot, come on!" he hissed. 

Kageyama stiffly raised his fist. "Yeah," he grunted, "teammates."

Suzume felt a fire bloom in her chest. It was a step in the right direction. "Oh, but you should know, Hinata," she gave the ginger a cheeky smile, "I'm going to fight for the name Tiny Giant."

Hinata's eyes glinted at the challenge. "You're on, Udai!"

~*~

"Keep going, I don't want to see any net collisions!"

Ukai was like a drill sergeant, barking orders and repeating drills constantly. Suzume furrowed her eyebrows as she picked up another volleyball. When it came to serving, she would say that she was average, but after watching her teammates practice, she wasn't sure if that was really the case. Her standing serve skimmed the top of the net more often than not, and she couldn't jump-serve at all. She never really had thought it was important to practice when instead she was perfecting her spikes, but she was starting to regret that now. 

Kiyoko walked into the gym, carrying two large bags. She called out to Takeda. 

"Ah, are they ready?" Takeda asked. 

Kiyoko nodded. "Yes, the uniforms have been cleaned and altered." 

Suzume gasped in excitement. The uniforms! Oh, how she hoped to get her brother's number.

Ukai called for a time-out, and the three of them started distributing the uniforms to the team. Kiyoko brought Suzume's over to her. "We asked Michimiya-san if we could borrow an unused girls' uniform for you. We figured it would be more comfortable, and we altered the colors to match the boys' uniforms."

Suzume thanked her, and unfolded the uniform top. The majority was black, with orange on the shoulders and down the sides. And the number...

"Since you were the last to join, we had to give you the last number. To keep it fair, you understand," Takeda told her gently, noticing her crestfallen expression as she looked at the large thirteen on her jersey. 

She gave a curt nod. "Of course. But, then who--"

Her question was cut off by Hinata's squealing. _Ah. I should've figured. _She closed her eyes, already knowing what she was going to see when she turned around. Sure enough, the orange-haired boy was holding up the number ten jersey. A pang went through her chest. 

Tanaka clapped Hinata on the back. "Oho, you got the Tiny Giant's old number! Man, I bet you're super pumped!"

Suzume frowned deeper. Suga looked over at her, concerned. Before he could stop her, she called out, "Oi, Hinata!"

Both Hinata and Tanaka flinched. More than likely, Tanaka had forgotten she was the Tiny Giant's sister, and didn't mean anything by his comment on Hinata's jersey. 

Her grip on her own jersey tightened, and Hinata gulped. He had seen her working out during practice, and knew she was probably stronger than him. The last thing he wanted was to be beaten up by a girl. But Suzume instead let out a harsh breath, and said with a strained smile, "You better do that number proud, you hear me?"

He sighed in relief. "You bet!"

Ukai called for their attention. "Incidentally, when Udai's brother played here, Karasuno was at its best. But even for all that, Karasuno didn't beat Nekoma a single time. It ended in a losing streak. I want you to clear our name."

"Yes, sir!"

"Now, let's resume our practice! Nekoma won't hold back!"

"Yes, sir!"

~*~

Kiyoko and Suzume were headed back to the manager's house for the night, when Suga called for them to wait. "Here," he said, handing Suzume a piece of paper. "I have a feeling that I'm going to be working with you more than Kageyama will be, so I came up with some signals for your best plays."

Suzume looked over the cheat-sheet, a small smile appearing on her face before growing impossibly wide. She bowed deeply to her senpai. "Thank you very much, Suga-san!"

Suga laughed softly, also smiling brightly. "It's nothing, Udai-chan."

"Uhm, Suga-senpai, all my previous teammates used to call me Suzucchan. If you're comfortable with that, I would like it very much if you called me that too." She said it in a rush, like she had worked herself up to saying it in the first place. 

"That's what Mori-san from the NA team called you, right?" Suga asked. 

She nodded. "It started with him and my brother, their team. It's embarrassing now, looking back on it, but I used to sit in on their practices when I was a kid and be the ball-girl. Ukai-sama--uhm, Ukai-san's grandfather, I mean--he liked the nickname because it meant 'Little Sparrow.' He bought into the bird imagery a lot. He always told me that one day I would make a great crow myself. And, well, for a nine-year-old girl who looked up to her ace brother more than anyone else...it meant a lot to me." A wistful smile had appeared as she talked, but once she realized what she had said, she stiffened in mortification. "Ah, sorry Suga-san! I didn't mean to say all that."

Suga waved her apology away. "Not at all. It's nice to know you better." He turned to head back inside the building. "Goodnight Kiyoko-san, Suzucchan. Get some rest, so we can beat Nekoma tomorrow!"

Suzume watched him in shock before she composed herself. "Ri--Right!"

Kiyoko made a small noise in the back of her throat. "Sugawara-san is much more enthusiastic this year. That's a good thing." She treated Suzume to one of her rare smiles. "I think you've had something to do with that. So thank you, Udai-kun."

Suzume felt herself blush. "Thank you, Kiyoko-san! Er, no, I mean, you're welcome!"

~*~

The next morning, Suzume met the boys in front of the school, ready for the game. Instead of her usual braid, her hair was pulled tight into two buns at the top of her head. She was wearing her Karasuno sweats, holding her court shoes in one hand. The laces were no longer purple, but bright orange instead. The determined look on her face was enough to tell anyone that she was ready to play. She just hoped that she got the chance. 

Daichi grinned at her and Kiyoko, who was carrying the water cooler a little ways behind. "How're you feeling, Udai-kun?"

"Ready to win, Captain."

He nodded in agreement. "Good to hear. Alright team, let's go meet our opponents."

"Right!"

Together, they walked onto school grounds, where somewhere, the Cats were prowling around. They found them by the main athletic building, their red uniforms easy to spot on the empty campus. The first thing Suzume noticed was that there were a fair amount of shorter boys on their team. Though, the one in front was intimidatingly tall, and had a confident smirk on his face. She bet that he was Nekoma's captain. 

The second thing she noticed was that they were staring at her. She stood between Kageyama and Yamaguchi, her height even more emphasized, and shuffled her feet awkwardly. 

Nekoma broke the silence first. The captain looked down at Suzume, then back at Daichi. "Oho ho, this will be interesting."

Daichi's smile was feral. "Yes, we are looking forward to the game."

The two stared each other down for a moment longer, but then Nekoma's captain turned away, heading inside to the main gym. Karasuno followed shortly after, though Suzume suddenly found it hard to move her feet. Daichi stopped and turned back to her once he noticed she hadn't moved. "Udai? You okay?"

Suzume quickly shook her head to clear it, and jogged forward to catch up. "Yes, sir!"

Hinata bolted past her, shouting at one of the Nekoma players. Suzume frowned at Daichi. "Do they know each other?"

He looked equally confused. "I don't see how..."

They walked up as another Nekoma player walked back out of the gym. "Hey, hey, hey!" he growled at Hinata. "What business do you have with our setter?"

_Setter, huh?_ Suzume thought. _He doesn't have much of a presence, though I suppose I'm the last one to talk._

Tanaka stalked up to the other Cat, his face scrunched up in a scowl. "What about you? What business do you have with our freshman? Eh?"

_Well, they're exactly alike. Whadd'ya know?_

Tanaka and the Nekoma-Tanaka sized each other up, looking as though they were about to throw down right then and there. 

Suga sighed. "Tanaka, you're about to rumble in the game we're about to play. Stop embarrassing us."

"Yamamoto, stop picking fights all the time. It makes you look stupid," a third Nekoma player said, effectively ruining the guy's intimidation factor. He and Suga exchanged apologies. 

The boy called Yamamoto suddenly gripped his chest right over his heart, his face white as a sheet. Tanaka followed his gaze to Suzume, and Suzume looked behind her to see what he was freaked out about, before realizing he was reacting to _her_. 

"Gi--Girl...player!" he shouted, backing up in what appeared to be terror. 

Suzume flushed, both from embarrassment and anger. She clenched her fists. "What of it?" she demanded.

"Udai-kun," Kiyoko called out. "One of your bobby-pins is coming loose." The manager walked over and adjusted her hair, before nodding to the boys and continuing inside.

Yamamoto looked even more broken than before. He wailed, "Female manager...and a girl player! Argh, you'll pay for this Karasuno!"

Suzume blinked in astonishment, and watched as two of his teammates dragged him away, like this was a normal occurrence for them. Then again, maybe it was. After all, it was normal to _her_ team that she was a player, by now at least, anyway. 

The stragglers walked into the gym, Hinata immediately crying out in awe. "The ceiling is so high!"

"It's just a ceiling," Kageyama muttered.

But Suzume bounded up next to the freak duo, exuding energy. "Isn't it amazing?!" She took a deep breath. "You can smell the wood polish!"

Tsukishima looked at them with pity in his eyes. "You're both hopeless."

"Don't make me kick you again, Tsukishima," Suzume warned. 

The teams were spread out, introducing themselves and doing warm-ups. Coach Ukai was talking with Nekoma's assistant coach, their words tense but good-natured. Suzume went to the corner where the boys all put their bags, and shrugged out of her sweats. She had to admit, wearing the girls' uniform wasn't the most comfortable around all the boys, but it gave her way more mobility than the boys' uniform would have. She figured that sometimes, she would have to compromise on things. 

Daichi called a huddle. "To be honest, we've only just met, and we're still awkward and uncoordinated. Plus, this is our first game using these members and this starting order. I don't know what kind of wall we'll be up against with Nekoma, an unknown team. But once we're up against that wall...that will our chance to rise above it!" He held his fist out, prompting the rest of the team to do the same. "Karasuno, fight!"

"Yeah!"

Let the game begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Suzume will at some point talk and apologize to Kageyama about her teasing around Hinata. Be assured that it's not going to go unacknowledged. 
> 
> *Since I don't know how long this fic is going to last, I'll say it now: Obviously Suzu's number is 13 in her first year, but second year she gets number 10, and in third year she uses number 4 and plays as Libero now that Noya has graduated. Also this way I don't actually interfere with canon numbers since I really like Furudate's choices on who got what jersey.
> 
> *So if you couldn't tell, Suzume will be closest with Suga on the team. He'll be like her mentor in the same way that Noya is to Hinata. I know I probably should've made Asahi this for her, but I just love Suga so much, and he reminds Suzume of Tenma a little bit, as she thinks they have the same sort of quiet determination, which honestly is a great parallel since her and Kageyama have the same fiery passion. 
> 
> *Later on the team as a whole will call her Suzucchan, because its a cute af nickname and its my fic so I can do what I want, but also I liked the idea of her having a nickname among her former teammates, and holding onto that sense of familiarity. It helps that the team has a lot of nicknames already, like Suga and Noya and Tsukki (and I'm pretty sure Hinata calls Kags "Yama" at some point) so it's not the most outlandish thing in the world. Once she's a second year, the name will change to either Suzu-kun or Ukun (this one makes the boys laugh since it's so close to Ukai)
> 
> *Also, Kiyoko does Suzume's space buns before every game. When Tanaka finds this out, he cries.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Cat vs. Crow Dumpster Showdown!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending is a little weird because I wasn't sure where to cut this chapter off, and that's also why its stupidly long compared to the other chapters.

"We will now commence the practice game between Nekoma High and Karasuno High!"

Suzume bowed with her team. "Thank you for the game!" Her and the rest of the players not in the starting lineup went to the team box. 

Hinata wasn't jittery today. She thought this was a good thing. It seemed like all his nervous energy became determination to play. He was having a small conversation with Nekoma's number seven, and it didn't go unnoticed to Suzume that Kageyama looked distinctly ruffled at this. 

The setter--Hinata told her his name was Kenma--called out to the ginger. "I know I said that I think I have a pretty good team, but I'm not good. We _all_ are." He gave Hinata a small smile and then walked to the back of the court, ready to serve.

The whistle blew. Suzume watched with bated breath, hands clasped together in front of her. Suga laughed a little. "Why are you so nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," Suzume said. "I'm excited! This is my first official game with you guys, and even if I don't play at all, that still stands!"

Suga blinked in surprise, before smiling that angelic smile he saved for special occasions. "You're a little ridiculous, Suzucchan."

"Being ridiculous is one of my best qualities."

The players standing out watched as Kageyama and Hinata debuted their freak quick. It still amazed Suzume that Hinata had such blind trust in Kageyama's toss that he didn't even keep his eyes open. He just looked for the place with no opponents, and _leaped_. She was sure she would never be able to do that. She relied too much on being able to adjust in the air according to the opposite court.

The quick garnered the reaction from Nekoma that Suzume expected. Coach Nekomata looked terrified. "What was that?! He didn't even look at the toss!"

Ukai and Takeda had the same devious grins on their faces. 

Kenma walked up to the net. "That was amazing," he told Hinata. "I'm surprised."

Hinata let out a sheepish laugh, and Kenma narrowed his eyes. Suzume watched all of this with interest. To her, it looked like Kenma was breaking Hinata down in his eyes, piece by piece. Studying how each gear worked. 

Tanaka was up to serve. "Let's keep this going!"

The two teams rallied, Noya expertly retrieving a spike from Yamamoto. Hinata ran like he was going to do another fast attack, bringing a triple block with him, but then Kageyama tossed to Asahi, who nailed the ball right into the opposing Libero's shoulder, earning Karasuno another point. 

Suzume could feel a smirk on her face. More than that freak quick, Hinata's biggest play was his decoy. As she watched him play for real, against a real team, she begrudgingly had to admit that he and Kageyama worked well together. Much better than she ever would be able to with the setter. 

Noya swapped out with Tsukishima, and Suzume handed him a bottle of water. "Nice work, Noya-san! That receive was amazing!"

He nodded, looking distracted. "Thanks." He turned to watch Nekoma's Libero come into play. "Their Libero is a threat. He'd never seen Asahi spike before, but he touched it." The whistle blew again, and Noya shook his head to clear it. He handed the water bottle back to Suzume. "I'm sorry, please take this!" He ran back onto court.

Suzume and Suga shared a look. "I hope he doesn't work himself up too much over Nekoma's Libero," she told the setter. 

"He'll be fine," Suga reassured her. "He's one of our most steady players."

The game continued, and Karasuno was leading 10-7. Nekoma called for a time-out, giving the boys a chance to catch their breath. Suzume and Suga handed out the waters.

She had to admit, as she watched the boys all gravitate toward their own groups, she felt a little left out. She didn't want to butt in on any conversations, but at the same time she wanted tell them all how well they were doing. When she was the one playing, the praise she heard from her teammates always gave her that extra boost to do well. She wanted to provide that same sort of boost, but she didn't know if the boys would take it genuinely, especially since about half of them always seemed to get flustered at her praise. Suzume understood that she was a girl, but on the court she was just another teammate; these guys needed to get that through their heads fast if she was ever going to play.

An uncomfortable feeling grew in the pit of Suzume's stomach after play resumed. Nekoma's players were all more...cautious. Instead of charging without abandon at every play, they were taking their time, watching Karasuno's every move. Their number seven, especially, kept his eyes trained on Hinata.

"Is it just me," Suzume whispered to Suga and Ennoshita, "or are they leading Hinata?"

Suga's face was set. "It's not just you."

Yamaguchi came up next to Suzume. "If they manage to catch up with Hinata's quick, he'll lose practically all of his morale. He told us last night that he can't stand being blocked. That's why he was so excited about Kageyama's toss, like it was a fail-safe for him. His confidence relies on his ability to use that quick."

Suzume frowned. "That's not the best attitude when it comes to volleyball. He may be a Middle-Blocker now, but he wants to be Spiker, doesn't he? It's a guarantee that his spikes will be blocked sometimes." She chewed on her lip, watching Hinata's shoulders tense when Nekoma's seven grazed the ball. "He needs to lose that mindset as quickly as possible."

Hinata switched out with Noya. He didn't meet Suzume's eyes. 

They watched as Tanaka dug a tip. "Cover!"

Noya got under the ball. 

"Left!" Kageyama called.

Suzume raised an eyebrow. 

"Kageyama, get the last!" Noya bumped the ball to him.

The setter took a few steps and jumped, driving the ball down the court line and avoiding any contact from Nekoma.

Suzume jumped in place. "Ha!" she shouted. "Nice kill, Kageyama!"

He looked at her and nodded, before rounding on Hinata, who was staring at him wide-eyed. "That was a straight-down. You go straight along the side line. Udai and I practiced it the first day of camp. You need to learn how to choose your hits, instead of doing the same thing all the time!"

Hinata winced.

"A little harsh there, Yama," Suzume muttered.

Kageyama bristled. "What'd you just call me?!"

The last thing she wanted to do was start a fight in the middle of the game, so she called out teasingly, "You win this set and I'll tell you!"

She thought she heard a few choice words slip out of Kageyama's mouth before he got back in position.

"Why do you like to rile everyone up so much?" Yamaguchi asked her.

Suzume gave him a devilish smile. "I live off of chaos."

Yamaguchi let out an awkward laugh and took a step back from her. 

~*~

The game continued on, and Nekoma was catching up to Karasuno. Before Suzume knew it, Nekoma had set point.

Suzume clenched her fists tightly. _Now_ she was nervous. With every play, her teammates were getting more and more erratic, and Nekoma looked to be getting calmer and calmer. It was clear to her that Kenma was the one who set the mood of his team. She watched during the second time out, and Kenma was the one who was talking, not the captain, and not Coach Nekomata either. That no-presence setter was calling the shots. 

"He's like Tenma," she realized.

Hinata looked at her eagerly, as he was out for Noya. "Is that your brother? The Tiny Giant? Who's like him?"

The team had kept true to the word the past week, not bringing up her brother during practice or downtime. Suzume supposed she could give this little bit to Hinata. "Their setter. You said his name was Kenma? He's the playmaker of Nekoma."

Hinata scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Playmaker?"

"It's a basketball term. It just means that he's the one the other players look to for plays. He's the one that sets the vibe for the rest of the team." Suzume chewed on her bottom lip. "He's ridiculously smart, and well in tune with his surroundings. It's almost as if he's dissecting us. My brother would do the same thing when he played against a tough opponent."

The ginger hummed noncommittally. He looked like he had decided on something. "Thanks for that, Udai," he said, and then walked back to court, pulling Kageyama in for a brief discussion. 

Suzume blinked in surprise. She hadn't even done anything, why was he thanking her? 

Play resumed. Noya caught the serve, and Hinata immediately started running toward Kageyama. At the last moment, he turned and sped down the line of the net.

"Hey!" Suzume gasped. "That's my move!"

Hinata leaped, eyes shut tight--

Nekoma's number seven jumped with him, reaching a hand out. Hinata's palm met the ball, and it was blocked instantaneously, slamming down on their side of the court. The set was over. Nekoma had won. 

Hinata stumbled when he hit the ground, kneeling a bit. Number seven stood above him, hands up in victory. "Yes, I finally caught you!"

The ref blew the whistle, and the teams switched court sides. They had a ten minutes before they needed to start the next set. Suzume brought Hinata a towel. "Hey, how long have you been practicing my feint?"

He mumbled his response.

Kageyama glared at him. "We can't let each little thing get us down. We're going to take back the next set!"

Ukai nodded. "There is no spike that cannot be blocked. Don't get distracted."

"Let's nail the next one, Hinata!"

"Smash it in!"

Hinata looked up at his teammates in awe. Then his face set. "Right!"

But the next set was going even worse. Spike after spike, Hinata kept getting blocked by number seven. Suzume winced in sympathy at each one. Getting completely shut down was not a pleasant feeling by any means. He was getting worked up, and Nekoma was taking notice.

Suzume glanced at Coach Ukai from the corner of her eye. 

"You want to know why I'm not switching out Hinata for you?" Ukai asked, not taking his eyes off of the game. Suzume made a small _eep_ in the back of her throat, having not realized he noticed her. "If this were an official game, I might swap you two. But right now, this is a chance for him to find a solution. You already know what to do in this situation. Let this game be a learning experience for him."

Suzume bit the inside of her cheek in frustration, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, sir."

"However," Ukai continued, "if this results in Hinata losing his will to fight, I'll switch him out."

"Yes, sir."

Hinata tried to evade number seven during the next play, but the boy was quick, and the ball was blocked again.

The team looked worried. Suzume couldn't blame them. With his ultra-bright personality, Hinata was the one that kept them pumped up. If even he got caught up in the frustration...

But then he looked up, and smiled. Kenma stepped back from the net in surprise. To be fair, Hinata's smile was a little psychotic at that moment. Both teams stared at him.

"It's different somehow," he breathed out. "It's not the same as back when I felt confused because I couldn't see past the blockers. I can tell my opponent is struggling to keep up with me. Until now, I felt fear and hate when I was blocked. But..." his smile grew a little wider, "now I'm excited when I see him in front of me!"

Suzume was impressed. She couldn't deny a tiny part of her (and mind you, it _was_ tiny, minuscule, minute) wanted Hinata to give up so she could take her shot, but she was proud of her teammate. The training camp had helped them all in one way or another. 

Hinata looked up past the net. "With your tosses, Kageyama, and some kind of plan, I _know_ I can get it past him. So please," he turned to Kageyama, "give me one more toss!"

Kageyama clicked his tongue. "That goes without saying, dumbass."

Suzume called out, "You can do it, Hinata!"

He turned, smiled at her, and gave a thumbs up. 

This was good. Suzume was making progress with the wonder duo. _This was good_.

Her good feeling deflated almost immediately, when Hinata missed the toss entirely and landed on his back.

Suga stared at him. "He was looking at the toss."

_That explains it_, Suzume thought. _He and Kageyama haven't had the chance to work on a normal quick, so Hinata was too slow to hit it._

Ukai jumped up from the bench. "T--Time out!"

Hinata was quick to apologize to Kageyama. "It's not that I don't trust your tosses! It's just--how do I explain it?"

"What's with the panic?" Kageyama mumbled. Suzume thought it was cute that he looked mildly offended at the sight of Hinata groveling.

Suzume looked at Ukai. "Coach, may I?"

He spread his hands in a _by all means_ gesture, and she turned to the duo. "Kageyama, try giving Hinata a toss that is slightly weaker. Let it touch your fingers a split second longer, and give it more of an arc, instead of like shooting a bullet from a gun. It will give Hinata extra time in the air, to decide where he wants the ball to go."

The team stared at her in surprise. Tsukishima scoffed. "Why're you giving them advice that'll just keep you out of the game?"

She bristled. "The team's win is my win, too. If there's a chance to secure that, I'm gonna take it, even if I'm not the one playing."

Takeda and Ukai both clapped her on her shoulders. "Nice one, Udai. Kageyama," Udai said to the setter, "I know it might be hard to change it up all of a sudden, but do you think you're up for it?"

Kageyama thought for a moment. "I'll do it." The active players ran back onto the court, but Kageyama faltered. He looked over his shoulder at Suzume. "Uhm...thanks." 

Suzume's mouth dropped open in surprise. Kageyama mumbled it and it was barely intelligible, but he definitely said it!

_Progress_.

~*~

Hinata was struggling. A lot. 

Suzume had to keep reminding herself that it was _her_ idea for Kageyama and Hinata to switch up their play, and not beg Ukai to let her on the court.

When Karasuno was down by five points, Ukai called another time out. He looked stressed, as did most of the team. "Hinata, you need to calm down."

"Yes, sir!" Hinata breathed. "I'm sorry, I keep making mistakes."

Tanaka and Asahi are quick to reassure him that its okay, but Hinata doesn't look convinced. "I don't know...maybe Udai should take my place. I'm losing us the game, and she could probably get those points back."

Suzume stormed up to him. The boys all thought she was about to demand to take his place, but instead she gripped Hinata by the shoulders and shook him lightly. "What are you saying?! You can't give up!" She stepped back and pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling sharply. "Hinata, I told you that I was ready to fight for my brother's previous title. It's not going to be much of a fight if you lay down the moment you get upset! A few weeks ago, I probably would have jumped at the opportunity to show you up, but now...Kageyama may be your rival, but you are _mine_. And it's no good if I win by default." She smiled at him, wicked and sharp. "Don't give up without a fight, dumbass!"

Daichi and Suga were looking at her as though she had suddenly grown a second head. Ukai had his hands on his hips, pride evident in his features. But the only face that mattered to Suzume at that moment was Hinata's. He wore a soft look of surprise, before a large grin overtook his entire face. His eyes were sparkling. It was like he was looking into the sun. It was like he _was_ the sun. 

Suga cleared his throat. "Suzucchan is right, if not a tad too aggressive about it...if you're on the verge of learning something, keep at it. And don't forget, we're all here behind you."

Tsukishima nudged his way behind Suzume. "Though if you keep messing up, you'll still be swapped out for Udai." Then he yelped, as Suzume had reared her foot backward and kicked him in the shin again.

The time out was over, and play resumed. Karasuno managed to scrape up some more points, though they were still losing. 

After ten more minutes of near-agonizing spectating, Ukai called Suzume over. "When your brother played for Karasuno," he began, "he had a special technique that allowed him to score against hard blockers. Do you know what it was?"

She nodded. "He would intentionally hit the volleyball against the blocker's fingertips, making the trajectory wildly out of bounds. It was what he always did when he couldn't jump above the block."

"And did he teach this technique to you?"

Suzume blinked in surprise. "Er...yes, he did. He told me he always wanted me to have options in the air."

Ukai nodded. "Good, good." He watched as Hinata barely returned the ball to Nekoma's court. "Ref!"

Suzume couldn't help but gape as Ukai brought out the marker for number 10. "I want you to use that technique, show Hinata what he can do with practice."

"Y--Yes, Coach."

Hinata looked absolutely crestfallen when he noticed he was being swapped out. He moved to grab the marker from Suzume's hand.

She tightened her grip on the marker, causing him to look at her in confusion. 

"This is only for a few plays," she whispered. "Coach wants you to watch something. I'm not in permanently, so don't get all moody about it. Consider me the tutorial."

His eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded, and as he walked back to the team box, his shoulders weren't hunched anymore.

As she walked onto the court, the jeering started.

Yamamoto backed away from the net. "I can't play against a girl! It's not fair to her!"

"We won't go easy on you, so don't go crying when you break a nail."

"Is she even allowed to be on their team? This seems like a cheat to me."

Suzume ignored it all, keeping her head high. She walked up to Kageyama, who was intently staring at Hinata's back as the ginger talked to Suga on the sidelines. She flicked his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey, Ukai-san wants me to run a specific play to show Hinata. Keep setting the same way, until I give the signal. Then, give me that freak toss, okay?"

Kageyama frowned. "I thought you couldn't hit that toss."

"I said I can't do Hinata's play. I never said I can't hit your toss. Do you trust me?"

He hesitated a moment too long for Suzume's liking, but eventually he replied, "In general, not really. But...I can trust you in volleyball."

She gave him a bright smile. "That's all I ask for." She got into position, bouncing on her toes in anticipation. "Bring it!"

Nekoma's captain was up to serve. It was a powerful serve, but Daichi dug it no problem. "Kageyama!"

He lined himself up with the ball, shouting, "Udai!"

She looked at Nekoma's players, trying to decide where to go. She bolted down the right sideline, even though Kageyama was nearly all the way to the left.

"What is she doing?"

"She can't be serious!"

"There's no way she'll reach that toss."

Kageyama sent the toss across the net, and Suzume jumped sideways, nearly out of the court, away from the toss. Nekoma wasn't expecting _that._ She spiked the ball with her palm turning in, toward her team. The resulting spike shot nearly parallel to the net, directly behind the blockers, landing just inside the court line.

She hadn't done a cut shot in a while. She wasn't entirely sure that was going to work, but Nekoma's players just made it so _easy_, she couldn't help herself.

Her teammates shouted in victory, thumping her and Kageyama on the back. "Nice kill Kageyama, Suzucchan!" Suga called from the team box.

Noya high-fived her. "That was awesome, Udai! Where did you learn to do that?"

Suzume felt like she was on Cloud 9. "At Nationals that one year, I watched one of Karasuno's opposing players do that. It was so cool! I decided that I had to learn it for myself, ya know?"

Daichi called for the team to get back in position. It was Tanaka's serve. 

Point after point, Suzume's spikes brought Karasuno to a tie with Nekoma. She could see the Cats getting angry. They formed a dedicated block once again. 

Suzume grinned. _Perfect_. She looked back at Hinata and winked, then nodded to Kageyama. This next play was it.

Noya dove to receive the ball that was sent hurtling to the court by Nekoma's captain. He just barely managed to get under it, but the spin of the ball was way off. "Sorry, cover!"

Kageyama looked conflicted. The ball was going in the opposite direction he wanted for the toss. Suzume saw him glance over at Asahi. He was going to ignore her play!

"Yama!" She yelled. "Here!"

She ran straight toward the block. Number seven laughed. "She's going against the wall! This point will be easy."

Suzume jumped, her eyes on Kageyama and the ball. She dared him to ignore her. She _dared_ him. Nekoma's wall was reaching high above the net.

Kageyama tossed her way, the ball a hard projectile. She wound her arm back, and she spiked the ball right on number seven's fingertips. The ball flew high, sailing backward at an insane speed.

Number seven balked. "One--One touch!"

"Get the ball!"

"Kuroo!"

The captain ran with all his might, diving to save the point before the ball hit the ground, but he was too slow. 

Point: Karasuno.

The team erupted with screams. 

Suzume jumped in the air again, hands high above her head. "Ha! How's that for the Tiny Giant!"

Tanaka ran up behind her and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up and spinning her around. "Wahh, Suzucchan that was incredible!"

She looked over to Ukai and the team box. They were clapping for her. Until that moment, she had never felt happier in her life.

"Yo, Thirteen," she heard someone say behind her. It was Nekoma's captain--Kuroo. "That was some play. I believe I underestimated you. I apologize for that."

She waved her hand quickly. "Oh, you don't need to apologize! I don't care much about people underestimating me. It's not a bother, really."

Kuroo smirked. "Still. Well, we won't make that mistake twice, all right Shrimpy?"

"What'd you call me?!"

The ref blew his whistle, and Hinata was standing at the sideline, Suzume's marker in hand. She realized she didn't even feel upset about being pulled out of the game. Sure, she wanted to keep playing, but she wanted Hinata to get his groove back even more so. 

She smacked him lightly on his arm before taking the marker. "Hey, I think that put me one point up in the Tiny Giant rankings. You're gonna have to catch up."

Hinata smiled determinedly. "Right!"

Suzume skipped back to Ukai and Takeda, who were waiting for high-fives, which she gladly delivered.

"That was great, Udai," Ukai said. "Just what we needed. It worked perfectly." He pointed behind her, at Hinata bouncing excitedly around Kageyama like a baby bird.

She smiled fondly at the wonder duo. "Teammates take care of each other no matter what. I was glad to help."

There were only a few points until either team had set point. If it fell into Nekoma's favor, that would be the end of the match. They were all winded from playing, but the Crows all had the same thought.

_I want to keep playing_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last of the Nekoma practice will be like a tiny blip at the beginning of next chapter because I had to end this one before I ran out of room. Suzume and Kagehina have made amends, but don't expect them to be like best friends just because they understand each other now. Her and Kageyama still don't work as well as her and Suga do, so most of the time if Suga is playing then she's on the court too. She'll sub out with Hinata every once in a while, if the team is behind and they need to shake things up and break the tide, ya know? She's a pretty decent secret weapon, since everyone underestimates her in the beginning.


End file.
